RH Designs Analyser contact sheet printing question

Hi,

After a considerable interlude and recently gotten back into darkroom printing, I am re-exploring the diverse options of the Analyser in the darkroom.

According to the manual, you should be able to get a decent exposure for contact sheet printing by first measuring through a clear piece of film, and then moving the LED indicator to maximum black by adjusting the timing using the darker button.

However, if I do this and print a test strip for control of the suggested exposure time, it is way off and much to short (the print is way to light and doesn't have black), like 2-3 stops.

Anyone else who has experience using the Analyser to create contact sheet prints have a suggestion? My Analyser is the variant for the Ilford 500H head.

Hi,
I use the print analyzer for test strips by following the above procedure and making a test strip based on its recommendation. I usually have to adjust up or down by 1/3 stop.

Is your system reasonably well calibrated? You don't have any problems printing normally? Are the contact images too light while the film margins are black, or are the film margins grey?

Marco B said:

After a considerable interlude

Click to expand...

Perhaps your paper and chemicals have aged. Perhaps the least effort path to a calibrated setup is to just redo the black level calibration (do all 5 contrast settings) Then if that is not enough, redo the contrast calibration.

I might have had a similar experience, but can't describe it well enough make any useful comments. I think I just rolled with the stupid readings and got a good print rather than being derailed and recalibrating everything. It's one of the flaws of the system: you need a controlled, repeatable workflow. The old test print routine just absorbs changes from old paper, old developer, changing temperatures and times.

Perhaps an unhelpful answer, but do you use a sheet of glass to cover the negatives when they're being contact printed? If so, are you measuring with the Analyser under the glass as well as the film rebate?

(I'm in very much the same position, as I'll contact proofing a number of 120 rolls after vacation. I look forward to any feedback you can provide, as I'd like to use my Analyser to help in the same way.)

I just measured with and without glass and have found that my particular sheet of float glass adds 1/12 of a stop to the exposure. For me, that isn’t worth the effort to measure through but you could always add that in to your exposure once you find out what the value is.